Twitter to cut hundreds of jobs as early as this week

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Twitter is expected to cut hundreds of job as early as this week, amid fears that the company’s growth has dried up and that it has few options available following the failed attempt to entice a buyer earlier this month.

The loss-making company could cut as many as 300 members of staff, slimming down its operations by as much as 8pc, according to reports.

The reports of job cuts to its 3,860-strong workforce come just days before Twitter is due to announce its third quarter earnings before the market opens on Thursday. Analysts expect the company’s earnings per share to fall 10pc, while its revenue could have risen by around 6pc to $606m (£495m).

Although it isn’t expected to have hit negative figures, the results could mark the embattled social network’s ninth consecutive fall in revenue growth, which was as high as 124pc in the second quarter of 2014.

Within a week of Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter, returning as the company’s chief executive last year, the company cut 336 members of staff, a similar number that could be axed in the latest round of redundancies, in a bid to slim down and streamline operations.

The company, which hasn’t commented about the reports, is still reeling from the collapse of a potential sale after prospective buyers, including Salesforce, Walt Disney, Apple and Alphabet, all backed out before offers were even on the table.

The bidders cited an inflated valuation, given that the company has a market value of $12.76bn and losses of around $400m a year, and reputation for hostile users as the main reasons for getting cold feet about the sale process.

Twitter’s shares plummeted by almost a fifth as it became clear that there wouldn’t be a bidding war for the company, which floated for $30bn in 2013.

On top of its sales woes, Twitter has been struggling to recruit and maintain talented staff. As its share price has tumbled 40pc in the past year, the social giant has become a less attractive employer by comparison to other Silicon Valley companies such as Facebook and Google.